Hamas hangs Palestinian for 'collaborating' with Israel

Gaza’s Hamas rulers on Saturday executed a Palestinian convicted of collaborating with Israel and two others deemed complicit in murder, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that the three men were hanged in a “security centre” in Gaza City.

It was the first time this year that the Islamist movement had carried out an execution of someone accused of “collaborating” with the Israelis.

The statement did not give the men’s names, ages or any other information.

The last time the death sentence for aiding Israel was carried out was in July 2011, when two Palestinians were executed on the charge.

In March of this year, a Gaza military court condemned to death a 27-year-old Palestinian convicted of “treason” for allegedly cooperating with Israel, but did not publish his name.

Since the start of this year, authorities in Gaza have announced two other death sentences, one against a man convicted of “collaborating” with Israel, the other found guilty of killing his brother.

It was not clear if any or all of those were hanged on Saturday.

Authorities of the Islamist movement Hamas, which took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, carried out their first executions in April 2010 when they hanged two men convicted of collaborating with Israel.

Under Palestinian law, those convicted of collaborating, murder or drug trafficking face the death penalty.